An even newer, but not so focused whishlist

• The 80mm Hasselblad lens forthe 500 C/M
• The Button, the Rainbow & Pronto from Polaroid
• The Yashica T4
• A Frank Beltrame Italian Toothpick 
• A MS Super Triplet Perar 3.5/35 Mark II lens
• A Reflecta film scanner

Interview: John Morris on his friend Robert Capa

When Robert Capa’s photographs of D-Day finally reached the Life magazine offices in London, it was nearly deadline. The invasion of Europe on June 6 1944 was the story. The pictures needed to be developed fast, passed by censors, then flown to New York. Life’s picture editor, John Morris, told the darkroom: “Rush, rush, rush!” The negatives came out “fabulous”. “Rush me prints!” said Morris. But minutes later, young Dennis Banks, who was developing the prints, ran sobbing into Morris’s office: “Capa’s films are all ruined!” Banks had tried to hurry things along by closing the doors of the wooden locker where the films were drying. Without ventilation, the emulsion had melted.

Morris studied the four ruined rolls. Three were empty. But on the fourth, he found 11 grainy images. “That was it, all right,” wrote Morris later. “D-Day would forever be known by these pictures.”

more here

Holy Grail: the Eisenstaedt edition

'In Times Square on V-J Day, I saw a sailor running along the street grabbing every girl in sight. I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder. Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse...I took exactly four pictures. It was done within a few seconds' (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

If you still don't know what to present to give meon my birthday, here's another idea: a signed copy of one of the most iconic photos ever taken, and the camera that took it, will both go on sale at the WestLicht Photographica Auction in Vienna. The photo is a signed print of the iconic V-J Day "Kiss in Time Square" photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt, and the camera is the Leica IIIa rangefinder that he used right up until the day he died.

More on the Westlicht Photographica Camera Auction website.

What to have (XI)

Well as my birthday is fast approching, maybe you should consider spending a shit load of money on the coolest and most innovative watch I've seen in a while. Here's the Ressence Type 3. Just saying.

But this is photography...

"... Waiting for things to happen."
                                                  Eliott Erwitt

Holy Grail (the dumpster version)

On how a ground braking camera prototype almost got into the dumpster.

Holy Grail (the heirloom version)

When your grandfather was Dr. Erhard Glatzel, one of the great lens designers of the twentieth century, it won’t come as too much of a shock to find out that you’ve inherited two lenses that, by all accounts, don’t officially exist.

A new, more focused whishlist

The Bessa L
The 80mm Hasselblad
The Button, the Rainbow & Pronto from Polaroid
The Yashica T4
A Frank Beltrame Italian Toothpick

more to come

10.02.1924 - 29.12.2012

Leitz

La Rucar

You never see it coming

"German socialists saw nudism as a weapon of class struggle."  :)

Electorale

Trecand peste pleonasme si virgule puse dupa spatiu in text, nu inteleg absolut deloc relevanta definitiei de mai sus in contextul unui referendum privind demiterea Presedintelui in functie, dat fiind faptul ca cele doua legi citate (legea nr. 35 din 13 martie 2008 pentru alegerea Camerei Deputatilor si a Senatului si  Legea administratiei publice locale privind statutul alesilor locali) se aplica in contexte electorale diferite.

Si uite-asa, ignorand complet spiritul legii si al dispozitiilor CCR, al carei 50%+1 transforma chemarea la vot sau la boicot in mesaj electoral, s-a facut campanie si in ultima zi, USL-ul fiind principalul beneficiar.

The wind in her hair

Impossible is nothing

He's Chen Guangchen, a blind chinese civil rights activist and a pioneering attorney on behalf of women subjected to forced abortions and sterilizations under the one-child policy.

Sometime in the last few days, Chen achieved (again) the impossible: he managed to deceive his 60+ guards and slipped out of the stone farmhouse on the rural plains of Shandong province where he has been held under house arrest, with his family, on and off  since 2005.

If Chen’s captors had been readers of history, they might have predicted that he would not acclimate to limitations: he once ventured four hundred miles to Beijing, when he was in his early twenties, to file a tax complaint. This time he escaped at night once again, and made his way to Beijing with the help of accomplices. He is now believed to be under the protection of U.S. diplomats.

So what does Nike have to do with it? In a mildly frustrating move for Wieden+Kennedy, the advertising company working for the brand, Google exploded with pictures of him wearing a Nike sweater. While this great brand storytelling opportunity is there, it can't be used: sales to its Greater China market went up 18% in volume and 21% in revenue last year, reaching USD 564 million; Unfortunately, there's only one thing that W+K cand do right now: enjoy a moment of silent jubilation.

Meanwhile, thumbs up and fingers crossed for Chen.

Some brands have it

On how VW is taking care of its brand heritage.

Great

... project from Google: The Nelson Mandela Digital Archives;

A short lesson in perspective

Here (via Laur, the smartest kid in the building).

Checked

Check out both the Kickstarter and one of the projects it hosts: the TrekPak.

What to have (X)

An electric Morgan, to save the planet in style.